Big Year 2017

Sunday, 7 May 2017

Lifer, Mega-rarity and Non-rare Rarity

What a week of birding I had!And Thursday was Super Thursday because I had a lifer which turned out to be a mega rarity and especially for this time of
year.

At the end of the 18th week of 2017 my year check
list moved from 70 to 74 and my photographic big year tally from 59 to 60.My life list moved up one from 242 to 243
whilst my Barbados life list increased by 1 to 129 species.

Lifer and
Mega-rarity

Pacific Golden-Plover - Pluvialis fulva

I saw this bird on Thursday in the parish of St. Philip
while on lunch.At first I thought it
was an American Golden Plover, a migratory
shorebird normally seen in the latter months of the year, but rarely if ever
recorded this early in the year.I
shared the photographs later that night with fellow birder Ed Massiah (Birds of Barbados…) suggesting yes it maybe something special, pointing to another
golden plover species the Pacific Golden
Plover. He forwarded the photos to noted
Ornithologist and author P. A. Buckley (Birds of Barbados…) and with the help
of renowned photographer and co-author of The
Shorebird GuideKevin Karlson
confirmed Pacific Golden Plover.

Pacific Golden Plovers
are 9-10 ½ inches in length, nest on Arctic and subarctic Alaskan tundra,
and may winter on islands in the Pacific Ocean as far south as Australia. They have dark brown upperparts, spangled with
gold to pale yellow or white. A white
stripe extends from the forehead, over the eyes, to the wings. Breeding males are solid black from chin to
under-tail coverts. Females are duller
in colour. They are similar in appearance to American Golden-Plovers, but have
shorter wings, brighter yellow markings on their upperparts, and mostly white
under-tail coverts and sides. Non-breeding adults have yellow-edged
upperparts and yellowish heads and necks. Juveniles have a golden cast to head and neck
and spotted upperparts. This was the
fourth record of this bird on the island.

Unexpected Rarity

Blackpoll Warbler - Setophaga striata

I spent most of April and thus far May in search of
migrating wood warblers at the Graeme Hall Swamp. My focus was on three main
species, Prothonotary , Myrtle Warbler and Northern Parula but of course any other would have done quite well but
I did not expect to see the Warbler I saw.A bird that is more commonly seen during the month of October and in the
northern parish of St. Lucy.This bird
was a Blackpoll Warbler. The warbler, which was in the process of
molting to breeding plumage, was first seen on the 8th and again on
the 9th busily scouring the trunk and leaves of an Acacia tree for
insects.

Other Year Birds

Orange-winged Parrot - Amazona amazonica

The other two year birds seen during the week were Orange-winged Parrot seen on May 1st
and a Southern Lapwing on May 4th
moving my year total to 74 species.

2017 Photographic Big Year 60-63

The additions to my 2017 Photographic big year were the Orange-winged Parrot60,
Blackpoll Warbler61, Pacific
Golden Plover62and
Magnificent Frigatebird63. This
took my total to 63.

Week 18 was without a doubt my best week of birding for the
year let us hope it sets the tone for the remainder of the year. Enjoy your birding!